In the New Yorker...

[Front-Ranger]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you! It's from Adam Gopnik's The Table Comes First, essays on family, France, and the meaning of food. Some of these probably began life in the pages of TNY. Do you agree with his thoughts on cooking?

In the latest issue (Oct. 12) Gopnik has a rather unflattering article about James Beard. I almost wish I hadn't read it. 

I continue to find gems in the August 24th issue. (Here's a link to it, but you have to log in: https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/2020-08-24/flipbook/CV1/). Today I read "Nothing to Lose but your Masks", a very comprehensive article about the growth of the militia movement in Michigan that lead to the plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer. It doesn't just cover anti-lockdown protests but goes all the way back to Waco, Texas, Idaho, and Oklahoma City. One of the things I think is important about this article is that it discusses the vocabulary of these groups so their hidden agendas are revealed. When Trump says, "stand down and stand by" it shows just how closely he is tied in with these groups. Their rhetoric turns logic on its head. To them, we are the Nazis and they are the persecuted. They believe they are protecting and preserving the Constitution rather than fomenting anarchy.

The author, Luke Mogelson, went to several of these anti-government rallies, and his experiences made me think of what you, Katherine, went through.

It's so ironic that the anti-government groups appropriated the title of a 1984 movie directed by an Israeli-American starring Black actors about break dancing, "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo", to name their movement Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo. The rhetoric they developed has been adopted everywhere from campsites to the White House and makes it easy for Facebook and others to flag and delete their accounts. In fact, the way the plot against the Michigan Governor was discovered and followed was by Facebook alerting authorities about these groups.

[Front-Ranger]

I would love to see "The Personal History of David Copperfield", reviewed by Anthony Lane in the September 7 issue, but it doesn't say where, or if, it is streaming. Anybody know?

[serious crayons]

No, I always skip reviews of movies I've never heard of, figuring it's one of those movies they show in NYC that never make it out to flyover land.

These days, of course, us flyoverites could watch just about any movie.

I've heard Netflix's documentary My Octupus Teacher is really good. I watched the trailer and it looked promising.

[Front-Ranger]

I've seen it and, yes, it is good. It inspired a rash of Netflix documentary watching for me.

I finished the profile of Ethan Hawke in the September 21 issue. Written by John Lahr, it was pretty eye-opening. That man was involved in so many different projects! I wonder if any of them was able to go forward. Lahr's interviews and research were just before the corona virus hit. We are collectively experiencing a lot of nostalgia for those days and coming to the conclusion that relationships and art may never be the same again. 

[Front-Ranger]

Did you hear the news that Jeffery Toobin has been suspended from TNY for indecent exposure?

[Jeff Wrangler]

I finished the profile of Ethan Hawke in the September 21 issue.

Do you remember the mention of all the different jobs his mother held, ending as college text-book editor? She worked at the publishing company where I worked from 1998 to 2001, though I think she was gone by 1998, and we were in different divisions of the company, anyway. My teammate on my current job worked with her; she described her as "kind of flaky." She said Ethan did xeroxing for them. 

[Front-Ranger]

Interesting! He seems to be very close with his mother.

[serious crayons]

Did you hear the news that Jeffery Toobin has been suspended from TNY for indecent exposure?

Yes. In fact, apparently it was more than just indecent exposure. He was, er, multitasking.

That's a ridiculous thing to do. Still, I feel sorry for him. What a thing to happen to a guy with an otherwise illustrious career.

[Front-Ranger]

I haven't read about the details, but my theory is that the male sex drive is quite the powerful and uncontrollable thing. I also wonder if a midlife crisis works in to this.

During a break, I read "Three Fathers" by Ann Patchett in the October 5 issue. Gosh, she is a very good writer. She had two stepfathers in addition to her biological father and one of them was envious of her writing ability. And success. I encountered that situation with my younger sister. She was jealous of my writing ability and it strained our relationship for a long time.

[southendmd]

I haven't read about the details, but my theory is that the male sex drive is quite the powerful and uncontrollable thing. I also wonder if a midlife crisis works in to this.

Powerful, maybe.  Uncontrollable, that's debatable.